habeo

Oscan and Umbrian have cognate forms with -b-[1], which must reflect an original -b- as Proto-Italic -β- (and therefore PIE -bʰ-) becomes -f- in those languages. On the other hand, b is a rare phoneme in PIE, whose status is still disputed. Thus, the exact origin of this word is not clear.

Another way of denoting ownership besides using the verb habeō is using the possessor in the dative case (e.g. mihi (“to me”), tibi (“to you”), nōbīs (“to us”)) with the copula esse (“to be”), literally asking whether the item in question "is to you". For example: